50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life

Andrew McCaul

1 of 50amazon.com

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

“If you have never read this classic, or pooh-pooh it as being only for kids, think again. Alice and her adventures will make you see things with childlike curiosity. The story helps us remember that we need to be playful in love, life, and especially words.”

Recommended byLily Koppel, the author of two nonfiction books, The Astronaut Wives Club ($28,amazon.com) and The Red Leather Diary ($15,amazon.com).

Black Tickets, by Jayne Anne Phillips

“I took a fiction workshop with Phillips in college and was shocked when she assigned her own book. (It’s a collection of stories about everything from serial killers to mothers and daughters.) But I’m glad she did. Never before had a book given me permission to write so frankly about sex and sexuality, to try on different voices, male ones included, and to write from a dark, honest place. The stories are varied, some emotional and others shocking, but they are all authentic and utterly compelling.”

Recommended byJennifer Gilmore, the author of three novels, the most recent of which is The Mothers ($26,amazon.com).

The Best American Short Stories

“I first read this collection in the early 1990s. Culled annually from magazines, the anthology was my introduction to legends of the short-story form—John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, as well as then-newcomers Lorrie Moore and Charles D’Ambrosio. I was amazed by the ability of these writers to bring a page alive with sly humor and perfect sentences. To this day, I still consider the anthology the ideal place to discover a new writer or remember why I love one to begin with.”

Recommended byCurtis Sittenfeld, the author of four novels, including Prep ($15,amazon.com) and the forthcoming Sisterland ($27,amazon.com).

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards

“I once confessed to a girlfriend (who is a designer) that I was inept at drawing, and she told me about this book. It breaks drawing down into five basic perceptual skills—of edges, spaces, relationships, lights and shadows, and the whole—and provides instruction on dipping into our right brain, which helps develop overall creativity. And who couldn’t use a dose of creativity?”

Recommended byElaine Griffin, an interior designer and the author of Design Rules: The Insider’s Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator ($25,amazon.com).

The Inn at Lake Devine, by Elinor Lipman

“I read this punchy romantic comedy while finding the courage to leave my job as an attorney. The story, which centers on a Jewish girl’s fixation on an anti-Semitic hotel in Vermont, stayed in my mind and heart and filled me with the notion of becoming a writer: I can do this, I thought while turning every page. At the very least, I have to try.”

Recommended byEmily Giffin, the author of Where We Belong ($16,amazon.com), as well as five other novels.

CookWise, by Shirley O. Corriher

“This book made me want to work in a test kitchen. I was always curious about the hows and whys of cooking, and the author addresses so many of those questions. If you keep making the same mistakes in your cooking— say, your cakes are falling, your sauce always separates, or your bread isn’t rising right—Cookwise will help you discover solutions.”

Recommended byAida Mollenkamp, a chef and the author of Aida Mollenkamp’s Keys to the Kitchen ($35,amazon.com).

The Benchley Roundup, by Robert Benchley

“Benchley taught me how to create and then mine a comedic worldview with details gleaned from everything all around me. As I read and reread this collection of his essays from the 1930s, I marveled at how he effortlessly blended hilarious observations about the indignities and insanities of everyday life into a larger stew of real lunacy.”

The Queen’s Gambit, by Walter Tevis

“This was the first ‘grown-up’ book I read; I was 9 at the time. It’s a coming-of-age novel about an orphan girl who plays competitive chess. The story makes you fall in love with the main character, but it also makes moving pawns and rooks nail-bitingly exciting. Before reading it, I thought stories were supposed to be about adventures (and wizards mostly).”

Recommended byMax Barry, the author of four novels, including Syrup ($16,amazon.com) and the forthcoming Lexicon ($27,amazon.com).

Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War, by Annia Ciezadlo

“This is the true story of a writer who moves to Baghdad with her journalist husband in 2003, during the Iraq War, and discovers the soul of her new country—and her marriage—through an exploration of the local cuisine. This memoir helped me understand that food literally is life, carrying with it the vibrating pulse of humanity and illuminating a society’s essential nature.”

Recommended byLouisa Shafia, a chef and the author of The New Persian Kitchen ($25,amazon.com).

The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield

“This brilliant and challenging little book gives the most cogent reason for why we procrastinate about the most important things in our lives. It is both inspiring and daunting, and a must-read for people who ever find themselves avoiding what they know in their hearts they should be doing.”

So Long, See You Tomorrow, by William Maxwell

“Maxwell’s masterpiece, which weighs in at a mere 144 pages, contains as much life, range, and depth of emotion as its 1,000-page counterparts. It made me think that what is left unsaid can be as powerful as the words on the page.”

Recommended byAnn Patchett, the author of eight books, including the novels Bel Canto ($17,amazon.com) and State of Wonder ($16,amazon.com).

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

“I read this book when I was 19. I understood it then as a visceral, poetic lament about how race, class, and beauty had conspired to destroy the soul and spirit of a little African-American girl named Pecola Breedlove. I found in Pecola’s story a way to understand my own broken girlhood in America. This novel remains for me an eloquent reminder of how fierce the struggle to love whom you see in the mirror can be.”

Recommended byMonique Truong, the author of the novels The Book of Salt ($14,amazon.com) and Bitter in the Mouth ($15,amazon.com).

The Education of a Gardener, by Russell Page

“The late Russell Page, born in 1906, created gardens in England, continental Europe, and the United States and ranks among the giants of 20th-century design. His gardens were the epitome of style and sophistication, and like many a great artist, he strove, in the end, for simplicity. His single book is never out of reach on my desk.”

Recommended byDean Riddle, a landscape designer and the author of Out in the Garden: Growing a Beautiful Life ($18, used,abebooks.com).

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

“Hearing this book read aloud by my father was perhaps the first time I realized that there could be two ‘right’ ways to solve a problem, and by choosing one, you might betray the other. If Huck had turned Jim in to the authorities, he would have satisfied society’s law at the time but betrayed his own conscience. This theme often appears in my own writing.”

Recommended byPhyllisReynolds Naylor, the author of more than 140 books for children and young adults, including the Shiloh trilogyand the Alice series (from $6,amazon.com).

Katherine, by Anya Seton

“This work of historical fiction tells the 14th-century love story of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, ancestors of many in the British royal family. It showed me that two people can change the course of the future, and it was the start of my lifelong love affair with the past.”

Betsy in Spite of Herself, by Maud Hart Lovelace

“I’m sad that more girls don’t read the Betsy-Tacy books, a saga of three friends growing up at the turn of the 20th century in Deep Valley, Minnesota. The series begins in childhood and concludes with Betsy’s wedding. This volume in particular really blew my hair back. In it, Betsy, a high school sophomore, falls into the traditional female pit of thinking her authentic self isn’t good enough, but she manages to haul herself out of it. Like most girls, I believed I was the only one tempted to dumb herself down and sell herself short. Reading about a smart young woman doing the same helped me avoid that temptation. And for me the books were particularly powerful because the assumption throughout is that Betsy will become a writer, which is exactly what happens.”

Recommended byAnna Quindlen, the author of five novels and eight nonfiction books, including, most recently, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake ($26,amazon.com).

Colefax & Fowler: The Best in English Interior Decoration, by Chester Jones

“My mother gave me this book when I was 26, explaining that it could teach me all I needed to know about ‘good interiors.’ From this book, I have learned about proportion, color, pattern, and how to lay out a room. It also taught me that the best rooms aren’t necessarily the fanciest or most expensive.”

Recommended byAnnie Selke, a textile designer and the author of Fresh American Spaces ($45,amazon.com).

A Much Younger Man, by Dianne Highbridge

“This book—about a 35-year-old woman who falls for the 15-year-old son of her best friend—changed the way I read newsreports about ‘pedophiles’ who have scandalous affairs with the underage. This is a headlong heartbreaker, tender but never schlocky. It deepened my sympathy for many people under the spotlight whose real stories are so much richer and more morally nuanced than the headlines suggest.”

Recommended byLionel Shriver, the author of 13 novels, including We Need to Talk About Kevin ($15,amazon.com). Her latest is the just-released Big Brother ($27,amazon.com).

Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury

“This is one of the few books I know that have been read by my grandmother, my mother, me, and my daughter—a testament to the timelessness of the material. Any book that features magic sneakers, summer in a bottle, and a Happiness Machine is bound to make an impression. The whole world is in this novel: fear and acceptance, joy and sorrow, the circle of life and the passing of the seasons, and the magic of everyday things. The author shows his own heart in this work, something I try to do in mine as well.”

Recommended bySusan Wiggs, the author of the romance series The Lakeshore Chronicles (from $6,amazon.com). Her latest book is The Apple Orchard ($25,amazon.com).

Foster, by Claire Keegan

“You will never forget this novel because, from the first sentence, the story comes alive and the characters reach out for us from the pages. A young Irish girl narrates her experience of going to live with an unfamiliar couple on a farm. It’s a story about childhood, told with such beauty and with such respect for the growing heart of its main character that I consider it to be one of the best books ever written. In other words, I would take a bullet for this book!”

Recommended bySimon van Booy, the author of three novels, including The Illusion of Separateness ($24,amazon.com), out this month.

Apartments for the Affluent: A Historical Survey of Buildings in New York, by Andrew Alpern

“When I was a teenager, I discovered this book in the office of my father, the designer Mark Hampton. It’s a compilation of floor plans from some of the greatest apartment buildings of all time. The logic and the beauty of the timeless designs still inspire me today.”

Recommended byAlexa Hampton, an interior designer and the author of The Language of Interior Design ($50,amazon.com).

Early Autumn, by Robert B. Parker

“The story centers on a private investigator, Spenser, becoming a role model and mentor for a young boy cast off by his parents. It’s about doing what you like in life, but doing it damn well. I took that message to heart, and it changed my life.”

Recommended byAce Atkins, the author of theQuinn Colson novels The Lost Ones ($16,amazon.com) and The Broken Places ($27,amazon.com), which comes out this month.

Making Faces, by Kevyn Aucoin

“When I first became a makeup artist, 16 years ago, and I was just out of my training, I carried this with me everywhere. I didn’t always know which makeup suited certain features, so the book was my backup. If you’re interested in makeup artistry, it can show you how to actually change people’s features. It provides what I call ‘old-school training,’ from the era before Photoshop, when makeup had to be perfectly blended.”

King of the Hill, by A. E. Hotchner

“I first picked up this memoir of Hotchner’s youth back in the early ’90s. I had no idea what I was reading at first, but I soon found parallels in the story with my own struggles and conquests, even though I was as far away from Depression-era St. Louis as you could get. Hotchner is able to capture the fleeting impulses of childhood and the life-or-death importance of imagination in a way that had me rereading the book for years.”

Recommended byDomingo Martinez, the author of the memoir The Boy Kings of Texas ($17,amazon.com).

I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

“For several impressionable years, this was my favorite novel. Its heroine, the daughter of a half-mad penniless writer (I empathized), falls in love with a rich, funny neighbor (I approved). The book taught me that romance novels can be just as pleasurable when their heroines are neither golden-haired nor virtuous but confused, cerebral, and wry—a lesson I later brought to my own stories.”

Recommended byEloisa James, the author of more than 25 romance novels, the most recent of which is Once Upon a Tower ($8,amazon.com).

The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton

“Even if you aren’t religious, there’s something about reading a spiritual autobiography that feeds the soul and realigns the senses. Whenever I pick up this book, it feels like I’m spending time with the smartest, funniest, and wisest Trappist monk who ever lived. The story of Merton’s religious awakening and conversion at age 23 feels as fresh today as it did in the year it was first published (1948). I don’t leave home without it—seriously!”

Recommended byBenjamin Anastas, the author of the novel An Underachiever’s Diary ($13,amazon.com) and the memoir Too Good to Be True ($25,amazon.com).

Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton

“This darkly poetic, tragic story set in South Africa in the middle of the 20th century made me, as a white teenager, confront, really for the first time, the Jim Crow southern United States in which I lived. The language is beautiful, and the story summons readers to question society’s dictums and search their own souls.”

Recommended byKatherine Paterson, the author of many children’s books, including Jacob Have I Loved ($7,amazon.com) and Bridge to Terabithia ($7,amazon.com).

The Lover, by Marguerite Duras

“This is a slim volume of poetry, loss, and the sepia-toned remembrances of a girl coming of age in the wilds of French Indochina before World War II. It is an unforgettable ode to a time and place in a young girl’s life, a portrait of the moment when the road forks, a choice is made, and a life is changed forever. When I read it, my life turned on its axis. My own experience was validated, and I felt the power, the necessity, of honoring my own life through words.”

Recommended byRebecca Walker, the author of the memoir Black, White, and Jewish ($15,amazon.com). Her first novel, Adé: A Love Story ($20,amazon.com), will be published this fall.

The Moviegoer, by Walker Percy

“I read this book when I was a kid and was mesmerized by its subtle grace. A simple tale about a week in the life of a New Orleans stockbroker, it poked and pried at the essential questions we wrestle with, such as ‘Why are we here?’ and ‘How are we supposed to live our lives?’ It made me want to be a writer.”

Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh

“My friend Jasna, who’s from Sarajevo, gave me this book long before we could imagine a war would arrive in Yugoslavia. I forgot about it, but books are medicine; they don’t do us any good if they aren’t the right prescription. And so, when war erupted back in 1991, this book literally fell from the shelf and taught me what I could do on behalf of my friend. It showed me that the way to work for peace is to be at peace.”

Recommended bySandra Cisneros, the author of several novels, including The House on Mango Street ($11,amazon.com) and, most recently, Have You Seen Marie? ($21,amazon.com)

Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey From Homeless to Harvard, by Liz Murray

“The author’s true account of living with drug-addicted parents on the streets, overcoming hardship, and ultimately landing admission to Harvard University made me look at life differently and changed the way I think. Now I follow Murray’s mantra: ‘So what, now what?’ I face my problems head-on, find solutions, and move forward with life.”

Recommended byBobbi Brown, a makeup artist, the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and the author of more than a dozen books on beauty, the latest of which is Pretty Powerful ($30,amazon.com).

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor

“This was the first book that catapulted me out of the insular world of childhood and forced me to think about injustice writ large. Set in the decades preceding the civil rights movement, the novel is all about losing one’s innocence much too soon yet refusing to settle for the status quo. The Logan family loves hard and deep, and their seemingly ordinary sacrifices to make their community a more just and equitable place will leave you in tears.”

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, by Alison Bechdel

“Shortly after graduating from college, I was buying my third copy of this beloved graphic novel and the clerk said to me, ‘Are you a cartoonist?’ I gasped. ‘No! Why?!’ I had a degree in psychology, but in that cathartic moment I realized that, yes, I was going to be a cartoonist. I drank in Bechdel’s work. Her characters, drawing style, and sense of humor inspired me, as did the intriguing language of interwoven words and pictures. Even for readers without repressed aspirations to make comics, reading a graphic novel is an intimate, personal experience. And if you’ve never read one, Bechdel’s are a great place to start.”

Autobiography of Red, by Anne Carson

“This book is so original, funny, unexpected, and wildly smart that it revolutionized my sense of narrative possibilities. It is a portrait of an artistic winged red monster who falls in love, suffers a disastrous romance, travels to South America, and becomes a photographer. It will make you laugh out loud and break your heart on page after page.”

Recommended byCristina Garcia, the author of six novels, including the recently released King of Cuba ($26,amazon.com).

Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From and Why We Need to Get It Back, by Ann Vileisis

“This book is important to me because it lays out our nation’s skewed relationship with food and delves into our history to do so. Reading it, I realized that we have been disconnected from where our food comes from for far longer than I’ve been alive. It put my own work with the slow and local food movements in perspective and gave me encouragement to keep on doing what I can to make our food world a happier, wiser, more truly sustainable one.”

The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger

“This novel was published when I was 14, in 1951. It became, for teenagers like me, an underground book. We hid it from our parents and whispered about it among ourselves. It opened up a world that we hadn’t felt invited into.”

Recommended byLois Lowry, the author of more than 25 books for children, including The Giver ($7,amazon.com) and Son ($18,amazon.com).

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

“This book—which tells the story of a poor black woman whose cells were harvested and used for pivotal medical studies, without her knowledge—reminded me of the importance of research and the debt that we owe to those who have been part of it. The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and its Army of Women grew out of the need to help researchers find the women they need to study breast cancer.”

Recommended bySusan Love, M.D., a breast surgeon, the author of Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book ($22,amazon.com), and the president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.

The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper

“Because I’m dyslexic, I didn’t learn to read until I was 10. School was a constant struggle, and learning was difficult. One book I checked out often from the library was this one. I looked at the pictures and told myself I could do it, too. The story resonates with children—and with me—to this day.”

Recommended byDebbie Macomber, the author of more than 100 romance and women’s fiction novels. Her newest is Starting Now ($26,amazon.com).

Without Feathers, by Woody Allen

“I read this book of brilliant comic essays as a teenager (long before Allen’s personal life became confusing) and was blown away by the author’s range. There are riffs on Greek philosophy, séances, dentists, Impressionists, and argyle socks. Allen is also, as always, obsessed with death. But he made me realize that, despite the ever present Grim Reaper, you can still take pleasure in silliness and absurdity. At least for a little while. Until, you know, you die.”

The Street, by Ann Petry

“This 1946 novel inspired my thinking about how to translate the desperation of people pushing against the conventions of their time. Petry’s voice is unsparing in her story of a woman in 1940s Harlem facing the confines of caste, class, race, and gender as she tries to make a way for herself and her son in a world in which the street is a menacing, breathing thing. The book rings as true today as when it was written.”

Recommended byIsabel Wilkerson, the author of the nonfiction book The Warmth of Other Suns ($17,amazon.com).

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss

“It was the first book that ever made me laugh out loud. These days I read it to my 6-year-old, always making sure to overemphasize those last few lines: ‘Every day, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.’ ”

Recommended byDan Zevin, a humorist and the author of the memoirs The Day I Turned Uncool ($9, e-book,amazon.com) and Dan Gets a Minivan: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad ($15,amazon.com).

A Kiss Before Dying, by Ira Levin

“There is a point halfway through this novel—which is about a murderous young man seeking upward mobility—that makes you sit up and yell or throw the book at the wall because you realize you’ve been set up and taken in so masterfully. Without warning, the point of view of the tale shifts from the man to his second (potential) victim, and the reader suddenly realizes: We don’t even know the murderer’s name. I still think about that twist and marvel at the craft he used to get there.”

Recommended byC. J. Box, the author of more than a dozen thrillers, including Force of Nature ($10,amazon.com) and, most recently, Breaking Point ($27,amazon.com).

Common Sense on Mutual Funds, by John C. Bogle

“In all my reading about personal finance, no one has affected my thinking more than Bogle. He created low-cost index mutual funds for individual investors—the best way I know of for the average person to invest for the future. Bogle wrote many books explaining careful investing, but I think this one is the best.”

Recommended byJane Bryant Quinn, a financial journalist and the author of Making the Most of Your Money NOW ($35,amazon.com).

The Gay Place, by Billy Lee Brammer

“I read this book about 40 years ago, when I was beginning in journalism. It was a novel about the ego-absurdity of politics, and its central character, Texas governor Arthur ‘Goddamn’ Fenstemaker, was inspired by Lyndon Johnson. Brammer understood that great politicians have larger-than-life strengths and weaknesses, and that we should embrace the greasy brilliance of political theater rather than launder it into sterility. Brammer, sadly undervalued, and Fenstemaker, giddily over-the-top, had an enduring impact on the kind of writing I aspired to do and the kind of politician I aspired to write about—in fact and in fiction.”

Recommended byJoe Klein, a columnist for Time magazine and the author of six books, including Primary Colors ($15,amazon.com) and Politics Lost ($16,amazon.com).

About Alice, by Calvin Trillin

“Love is so personal. And fascinating. And intensely important. How can you know if you’re doing it right? I’ll tell you how—read this book. The tender eulogy shows us what love can and should be like: not sappy or saccharine. Just deep, funny, aching, exuberant, enduring, and pure.”

Recommended byElizabeth Weil, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and the author of No Cheating, No Dying ($25,amazon.com).

The Second Shift, by Arlie Hochschild

“Hochschild outlines the way that, even when the workday is done, women are still doing a tremendous amount of work at home. I knew domestic inequality still existed, but reading about how we culturally allow this to happen was an eye-opener. It forced me to take a close look at my own life and made me all the more dedicated to seeking equality with my husband in domestic and child-care responsibilities.”

Recommended byJessica Valenti, the author of three nonfiction books, including Why Have Kids? ($23,amazon.com)

Years of Grace, by Margaret Ayer Barnes

“Set in turn-of-the-century Chicago, this 1931 Pulitzer Prize winner follows the life of Jane Ward, from her first girlhood crush to the autumn of her life. Barnes reminds us that even the smallest decisions can make a carefully built life topple like a house of cards. This story will resonate deeply with anyone who has ever looked back and thought, What if?”

Recommended bySarah Jio, the author of The Violets of March ($15,amazon.com) and, most recently, The Last Camellia ($15,amazon.com).

The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin

“I was 12 or 13 when I read this. It was the first book that made the struggle against racial inequality real for me, and it taught me how beautiful and how effective an argument for social justice could be. In an age when race has receded and color is no longer an absolute barrier to achievement at the highest levels, this book remains an eloquent reminder of what it took, and what it cost, to get us where we are today.”

Recommended byEllis Cose, the author of the novel The Best Defense ($7, e-book,amazon.com) and nine nonfiction books, including The Rage of a Privileged Class ($14,amazon.com) and The End of Anger ($25,amazon.com).

The Last Lion, by William Manchester

“My biographical gateway drug was the first volume of Winston Churchill’s life story. I read it when I was 14 (yes, I was a very edgy teenager) and was entranced by the profound human tale of one man’s decision to stand alone against Hitler, risking everything. For me it was the beginning of a decades-long conviction that individuals, with all their vices and their virtues, their hopes and their fears, are the determinative force in human affairs. And that conviction is why I do what I do.”

Recommended byJon Meacham, the author of five nonfiction books, including Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power ($35,amazon.com) and American Gospel ($16,amazon.com).

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

“As a kid, I was a lonely, loathed nerd who avoided reality by losing myself in science-fiction novels and superhero comics. I hated the books we were assigned in school and skipped reading them whenever I thought I could get away with it. So in sixth grade, when I turned in an English project about Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa—a sheet of poster board with an outline of Africa and some red arrows pointing ‘out’ of it—my teacher, Mrs. Byers, produced a copy of Of Mice and Men and told me, gently but firmly, that if I wanted to pass her class I had to read it by the following morning. Here, finally, was a reality I could not avoid.

“That night, despite my dread, I found myself drawn into Steinbeck’s simple, sad story. And worse, near the book’s end, I even found tears—real tears—rolling down my 12-year-old cheeks. I had never in my wildest fantasies thought a story could distill such true, lonely, human emotions; moreover, I was deeply moved that Mrs. Byers had thought me mature enough to understand them. After all, I was just a lonely, loathed nerd. To this day, her assignment still serves as my most basic literary lesson. So thank you, John Steinbeck. And thank you, Mrs. Byers.”

Recommended byChris Ware, the author of Building Stories ($50,amazon.com).